Say You Like Me
by anime16
Summary: Kaoru Hitachiin almost run over a woman crossing the street while taking his little sister Ageha to an ice cream parlor. Little did he know, she would change his life forever. He would be caught in a whirlwind of romance that would sweep him off his feet.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club and its characters.**

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**Say You Like Me**

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**Chapter One**

_**Mr. Fashion Designer meets Ms. Beautician**_

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"Hikaru, Kaoru..." Yuzuha Hitachiin called her twins' attention. Hikaru and Kaoru perked up when they heard their mother's voice. They were in the living room, playing with their little sister, Ageha. They spent a lot of time trying to please the little girl but to no avail. She seemed to be difficult to entertain as they were when they were children. She really took after them so much. But, much to their annoyance, she is more attached to their Milord, Tamaki Suoh, than them.

"I'm going to work now. Play with your little sister while I'm gone, alright?" their mother told them. The twins saluted their mother and said in chorus, "Roger." Their mother gave each and one of them a chaste kiss on the forehead before setting off to work.

"Mom...we're not kids anymore..." the twins shouted while wiping off their forehead in annoyance. Their mother always teased them, wherever and whatever form. In short, she's the root of all evil and pranks in the Hitachiin Family.

Hikaru looked at his little sister and gave her a wide smile. "Ageha! I made a very cool game just for you! Would you like to play it?"

The little Hitachiin grunted and looked away from the game he was offering her. Hikaru pouted and said, "You're no fun Ageha. Big brother Hikaru didn't sleep last night to make this game for you."

Kaoru chuckled and presented her a dress. "How about this Ageha? I made this super cute dress just for you." He stared at her expectantly, wanting to hear a word of praise coming from her cute, little sister.

But Ageha scoffed and glanced away from his dress. Kaoru bit the inside of his cheek and complained, "Ageha! Big brother Kaoru worked hard for your dress."

Hikaru burst into a couple fits of laughter because of the same fate of his younger twin. Kaoru snorted and told his brother, "Hikaru, don't laugh at me." However, Hikaru continued to do so until he's out of breathe. He patted his brother's shoulder and puffed, "No, it's just that we're really the same whatever we –"

He momentarily stopped when he heard his ringtone and felt his phone vibrating from his pockets. He looked at the caller I.D. and grinned. He looked at his siblings and said, "Excuse me...Mika is calling me." The older twin stood up and went out of earshot.

Kaoru followed the retreating figure of his brother until he couldn't see him anymore. He tucked his hand under his chin and propped up his elbow on the curve of his knee. His eyebrows were knitted together, looking bored and irritated.

Ageha saw the sudden change of mood from the face of one of her big brothers. For a moment, her eyes flashed a tiny bit of concern to him. She walked up to him and placed both of her hands on his cheeks. "You look ugly, idiot." She smoothen the crease on her brother's eyebrows.

Kaoru looked surprised for a couple of seconds. He looked at her sister and chuckled. He raised his arms and gently enveloped his sister on a tight hug. "Hikaru is drifting farther and farther away from me. He even got a girlfriend now and he seems to like–" he shook his head and continued, "No, he likes her so much. Maybe he likes her more than he liked Haruhi before. She understood him so much that I felt jealous of her. She made him open up the way I've never done before. And a girl who can cope up with Hikaru's childishness is really an amazing girl."

Kaoru heaved a very long sigh. "And the worst thing is I'm not just jealous of his girlfriend. I envy him a lot too. I want somebody to find and understand me too."

Suddenly, they heard a series of hurrying footsteps towards them. The next thing they knew, Hikaru was standing in front of them, panting a little and said, "H-Hey...Mika said that she wants my help in designing her game...I have to go, but if you two don't want me to, I'll stay. You know, uhm, ah –"

"Hikaru." Kaoru interrupted his twin's little speech. "I know you want to go to your girlfriend's house. Don't force yourself to stay behind and spend your time together with us. We'd just felt guilty about it."

"N-No. We have to take care of Ageha and –"

"It's alright. There were a lot of maids around. We'll manage with just the two of us. Besides, I promised Ageha I'll treat her to some ice cream."

Ageha looked at her big brother and frowned at him. She was like saying to him, "I didn't ask you. What stupid thing are you sprouting?"

Kaoru sweat a little from his sister's reproachful look and he fished out his handkerchief to wiped it. He gently nudged her as if saying, "Just went along, Ageha. Pretty please with a cherry on top..."

"Kaoru, are you sure?" Hikaru asked his younger twin with a worried look on his face.

Kaoru looked away from him and timidly nodded. "I'm telling you already that we'd be alright. So run along now to your little girlfriend."

Hikaru's face brightened up. He patted his brother's shoulder and said, "Thanks bro. I'll call you later to check up on you two." He took off with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

Kaoru had purse his lips in aggravation. He heard the familiar sound of his brother's car engine. After a few minutes, he didn't hear it anymore, meaning he was already gone to his girlfriend's house.

Kaoru sighed for the nth time of the day. He stood up from his seat and took Ageha on his arms. "Ageha, we're going to buy ice cream now. I have to get my head out of the gutter."

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Kaoru placed her younger sister on the passenger's seat and helped her put on the seatbelt. He was in the driver's seat and checked if the side mirrors were to his liking. After a few adjustments, he put on his seatbelt and drove away from the Hitachiin Manor.

Ageha kept on shifting in her seat that he had to keep an eye on her every a few seconds. At one moment, she was about to fall in her seat. He managed to catch her and help her to go back to her seat. His right hand was doing the work while his left hand was clutching the steering wheel (he was driving a Japanese Car).

He finally looked up in front and saw a woman crossing the street. He hit the brakes and missed the girl for only an inch. The girl gave out an unceremoniously yelp and fell backward. Kaoru, being the gentleman he is, went out of his car and helped the young woman. "I'm sorry. I really do. Did you get hurt?"

The woman she almost ran over by the car was in fact very young. She has a long raven hair and mesmerizing amethyst eyes. She has a petite figure and fair complexion. In short, she is a very beautiful woman.

He bent down to her level and aided her in gathering her things that went down with her in the ground when she fell. "It's alright. I'm not that hurt. I –" She looked a little bit distracted when she saw the state of her things. She let out a loud gasp. "No! My make-up and hairstyle kit were now in a mess. I couldn't use it for the test tomorrow. And I don't have money to buy new ones right now. I'm doomed."

Kaoru felt guilty at the consequences of his actions and decided to take responsibility. "Hey, would you like me to buy you a new kit? It was my fault that you're in a pinch right now, anyways." He gave her a grin that was supposed to melt the coldest of hearts but it seemed to have no effect to the woman in front of him.

Instead, she gave him an odd look. "Why would you buy something for a stranger like me?"

"Like I said, it's my fault that your things were ruined now," he answered.

The young woman looked at him like he was some sort of a rare species of an alien from outer space. She folded her arms against her chest and told him, "No way. I am not accepting any charity from you." She looked at his expensive car and sighed. "You're a rich kid, are you?"

Kaoru didn't have a chance to speak because she continued to rattle on, "I will manage to buy something on my own, somehow. You don't have to worry about me. I don't blame you for nearly hitting me with your expensive car."

After gathering her things, she stood up. Kaoru did the same too.

"Thanks for helping me picking up my things," she said. She gave a curt nod before walking away.

Kaoru was left alone in front of his car, watching her disappeared amongst the rush of the crowd in the streets. He sighed and murmured, "What an odd woman." He went back to his car and told his sister, "I'm sorry for making you wait Ageha."

The younger Hitachiin grunted. Kaoru chuckled and started his car. "Don't worry. I'll order a large serving of ice cream for you."

After a few minutes of driving, they've finally arrived to their favourite ice cream parlour. There were only a few people inside to their orders came very quick. Ageha managed to finish her big serving of ice cream within ten minutes. But the result was very devastating too. Her dress was smudged with a very large stain of chocolate ice cream, so was half of her face.

Kaoru chuckled. It was one of those times when Ageha looked stupid. It was a very rare chance so he was really enjoying and feeling the moment. It was short-lived though because Ageha gave him a glare while telling him, "I'm feeling sticky. I don't like this."

"Alright, I'm sorry Ageha." Kaoru stood up, wiping away the blotch of chocolate in her dress and face. Then he carried her in his arms and said, "You have to change. Let's go to our nearby store here –" he shook his head and continued, "No! I think we could go to a nearby commoner's department store. I went there once with the host club members. Let's go there now."

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Kaoru and his little sister were lost in the world of commoner's department store, especially the older one who was happily skipping from one item to another with a curious and interested look on his face. He had bought a dress for Ageha and he already changed her with it. He was surprised on how cheap it was compared to the signature brands and designer clothes they wore from their mother's company.

They sauntered over the cosmetics section and Kaoru caught a sight of the woman he almost run over a while ago on one of the stalls. She looked like she was really having a hard time. Being the nosy guy he was famous at, he tiptoed towards her.

"I couldn't afford to buy an eye-shadow palette and rouge. I'm really doomed tomorrow. This is the unluckiest day of my –"

"That's why I told you I'll buy it for you." Kaoru heard himself responding over the woman's complaints.

Her eyes widened and she quickly turned around to face him. "Y-You...what are you doing here? Are you a stalker?" she stammered.

Kaoru shrugged and told her, "I'm not...I'm here to buy some dress for Ageha."

She looked surprised for a moment but she swiftly wore a poker face. "I'm surprised rich people like you shop here."

"Yes..." He lied. The whole truth: It was his second time going to a commoner's department store. Well, she didn't believe him anyways as she threw him a doubtful look. He coughed awkwardly and asked, "So you're having a hard time buying your make-up kit? I thought you say you'd manage."

She scoffed at him and replied, "I don't need your insults and sarcasm right now." She looked away from him and muttered in a low voice, "Damn rich bastard."

She was whispering her last words in a low voice, nonetheless, he heard it. He was astonished by her choice of words because it was the same as Haruhi's when he first met her.

"I'm sorry if you found what I said insulting. I didn't mean it as insult," he sincerely apologized. She glanced at him again and held his eyes for a couple of seconds. She seemed to find something there because she gave him a small smile afterwards.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk too," she said. She extended her hands and told him, "Let's shake hands. We might have started off in a bad start but we could change that and be friends instead. My name is Yuriko Ayasegawa and you are?"

Kaoru accepted her outstretched hands gratefully and answered, "My name is Kaoru Hitachiin."

For a while, she looked stunned. He tilted his head and asked, "Hey. Is there something wrong?"

She snatched away her hand and pointed at him. "You...You're one of the Hitachiin twins?"

"How did you know that?" He frowned. There in front of him was a girl he didn't know until now but she seemed to know something about him.

"Well duh...your name is pretty famous at our university."

"_Our?_ Meaning, you're studying at Ouran University too?" Kaoru asked.

"Yes," she replied. She folded her arms against her chest and continued, "If you're wondering how a penniless girl like me entered a prestigious university like Ouran, then you should account that to my hard work. I'm not like you guys, damn rich and could do whatever you want to do. I entered the university through a scholarship program when I won a prominent make-up and hairdo competition set up by the headmaster Suoh."

"Oh, I didn't know the headmaster was sponsoring contests like that," he said.

"Well, he does said, 'Beauty is everything' and then sprouted a lot of nonsense things after that," she told him.

He smirked. "As expected of him, he's the very person Milord takes after."

"I'm grateful of him though. Because of him, I could fulfil my dreams despite being poor." She let out a smile. "That's why I couldn't fail the practical test for tomorrow. But my make-up kit was all ruined."

"That's why I offered to buy you a new kit," Kaoru said. "Don't be stubborn and accept it already."

"I told you I won't accept any charity from you, didn't I?" she retorted. "I'm not the stubborn one...it's you!"

"You're really a feisty girl. What should I do with you?" he returned. "You don't want to accept my help even though I'm the one who inconvenience you."

She looked down, momentarily thinking through what he said. She seemed to come up with a solution because she perked up, eyes shimmering with excitement. "I know. How about this...you lend me money then I'll pay for it once I accept my allowance and money from my part time job."

"That might be a good idea," Kaoru said, "Better than not helping you at all."

"Then, let's exchange phone numbers. I'll call you once I have the money to pay you..." she told him and added, "but can I pay in instalments?"

"It's fine." Kaoru shook hands with her. "It's a deal then."

After exchanging phone numbers, she finally looked at the younger Hitachiin at Kaoru's arms. She glanced at Kaoru and said, "I didn't know you had a kid."

"She's not my kid. She's my sister," he told her.

"Oh..." she stared at Ageha and smiled sweetly at her, "What's your name?"

Ageha snorted and looked away from her. Yuriko was momentarily unable to speak because of her astonishment. She stammered, "A-A kid just shunned me!"

"Her name is Ageha. Don't worry about her. She's always like that," he told her. _She's like that to me too._

"Hmmm...She's probably a shy kid, don't you Ageha?" she cooed the small Hitachiin but she was shirked away again. She heaved a very long sigh. She looked at Ageha then to Kaoru and vice versa. A plan crossed her mind and she smirked at the siblings.

"You two will come with me to buy my make-up and hairstyle kit. We're going to stroll around and I'll tour you around the department store."

"Can't I just give you money?"

"What would you do if it's not enough? Besides it's much more fun to be with someone while buying for cosmetics!" She walked beside him and held his hands. "Come on, don't be difficult. Just follow my lead."

And just like that, Kaoru Hitachiin, one of the Hitachiin twins, was dragged along in a shopping for cosmetics all according to the whims of a beautician. What could possibly go wrong?

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**Author's Notes: I just came up with this story on a whim. Hope you like the start. Thanks for reading the story and would you please leave some reviews and let me know your thoughts. **


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